Measuring and dispensing spout



Oct. 31, 1961 c. E. GERMANO MEASURING AND DISPENS-ING SPOUT Filed Oct.27, 1959 *All If ill!!! INVENTOR Y C. E. GERMANO ATTGRNEY United StatesPatent Filed Oct. 27, 1959, Ser. No. 849,078 2 Claims. (Cl. 222-49) Thisinvention relates to containers employed about the home and elsewherefor the holding and dispensing of commodities of various kinds andamounts and particularly to receptacles or .containers forsubstancesaffected by the moisture in the air making it desirable t0 exclude theair therefrom.

The invention relates specifically to square or round containersmanufactured in a manner to facilitate the dispensing of the contents inmeasured amounts and with closure means for retaining the contents in asubstantially dry condition to avoid being affected by the moisture inthe atmosphere.

Containers or receptacles for various products have had dispensingmechanisms in the form of pouring spouts or the like which could beoperated to discharge a small amount of the contents of the containerand then the discharge opening closed. With these devices it has beendesirable to measure the amount of the contents dispensed and a simple,satisfactory, practical solution of this problem has not been available.

It is an object of the invention to provide a container having ameasuring and dispensing portion and by means of which a desired amountof the contents of the container can be discharged or dispensed and -theopening closed to protect the remainder of the contents from themoisture in the atmosphere.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container of any desiredmaterial and with a simple and inexpensive pouring or dispensing spoutwhich can be held in an inoperative retracted position within thecontainer and readily moved outwardly to a dispensing position and withsuch device of clear tubular plastic movable to a position to dispense aselected amount of the contents of the container and with means toindicate the quantity dispensed, and which spout can be readily closedto prevent contact between the remaining contents of Ithe container andthe atmosphere.

A further object of the invention is to provide a meas- 45 un'ng anddispensing spout composed of individual clear plastic tubes movable froma retracted position Within the container to a dispensing position withone of the tubes turnable relative to the other to open and close thedischarge opening and with a removable dispensing portion by which ameasured amount may be transported to the remote receptacle.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from Ithefollowing description taken in conjunction with the drawing, wherein:

FIG. l is a bottom perspective of an inverted coffee container havingthe invention applied thereto;

FIG. 2, a section on the line 2 2 of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 a vertical section illustrating the dispensing mechanism inretracted inoperative position within the 6 container;

FIG. 4, an interior plan view of the container with the dispensingmechanism in operative or extended position and viewed on the line 4 4of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5, an end view of the dispensing mechanism retracted and viewed onthe line 5-5 of FIG. A3; and

FIG. 6, a transverse section of the dispensing mechanism on the line 6-6of FIG, 3.

Briey stated, the invention is a measuring and dispensing spout for acontainer of any desired character adapted to contain coffee or othergranular substance.

3,006,506 Patented Oct. 31, 1961 The dispensing spout comprises a pairof sleeves with semi-circular end portions adapted to be disposed inopposition to form a closure in one position and movable relative to`each other for providing an opening and with 5 an adjustable plug orclosure the end of which is adjustable within the inner rotatable sleevefor determining the amount of material received within such sleeve afterwhich the sleeve is rotated so that the semi-circular end portions arein opposed closed position and the plug re- 10 moved to allow thematerial within the spout to be discharged.

With continued reference to the drawing a container 10 for coffee orother substance is provided with an opening 11 surrounded by an annularintegral ring 12 l5 with a central groove or recess 13 extending aroundthe same.` Within the ring there is an attaching collar 14 of flexiblematerial having an external rib 15 received within the groove 13 andsuch collar also having along its inner surface an annular recess orgroove 16. The collar 14 serves to receive and hold a sleeve 17 by meansof an annular rib 18 fitting within the groove 16, such sleeve having anenlarged end ange 19 which ts snugly within the opening 11 .when theparts are in the dispensing position of FIGS. 1 and 2, in which the canis inver-ted but prior to which the sleeves are retained within thecontainer as illustrated in FIG. 3. The sleeve 17 is provided with anintegral closure portion 20 in the form of a half circle with a thinedge 21 diametrically disposed slightly beyond the true diameter of thecylinder so that the remaining portion of the cylinder is open. In orderto provide a closure for the open portion of the cylinder a secondsleeve 22 is provided having a similar half-circular portion 23 whichtapers to a thin edge 24 adapted to overlie the thin edge 21 providing acomplete closure for the sleeves 17 and 22. In order to maintain thesleeves 17 and 22 in xed axial relation the sleeve 17 is provided l witha rib or projection 25 which is received groove or recess 26 in thesleeve 22 when the upper end of the sleeve 22 is in abutting relationwith the closure Portion 4=0n 20 ofthe sleeve 17. The sleeve 22 has anexternal ange 23 will be directly underneath the portion 20 and theopening 27 will be of maximum size. When the parts are in retractedposition Within the container as illustrated in FIG. 3 the ange 26extends within the sleeve 12 and abuts the collar 14.

In order to adjustably control the quantity of material which flows fromthe container 10 into the sleeve 22, a cylindrical plug 28 is providedhaving a closed end 29 and such plug is of a size to slidably fit withinthe sleeve 22. The sleeves are preferably of clear plastic so that 0 thecontents may be observed and the outer sleeve 17 is provided withcircular lines 30 and indicia 31 (FIG. l) indicating by the position ofsleeve 28 the capacity of the space within the sleeve 22 whereby allthat is necessary is to have the parts providing the opening 27 and 5the sleeve 28 with its closed end 29 properly set and to invert thecontainer so that material in the container 10 Will ow by gravity andfill the space in the sleeve 22 after which the sleeve 22 can be rotatedby the ange 26' to bring the substantially semi-circular portions 20 and23 into opposition so ythat the opening from the container 33 and 34indicating whether the parts are in position so that the opening 27 willbe open or closed.

'After-the coee or otherv contents of the can has been allowed to tiowthrough the opening 27 to fill the adjoining space within the sleeve 22the parts`are inverted so that the sleeves 22 and 17 extend upwardly omthe container whereupon the plug 28 can be removed and the deviceinverted to cause the amount of material received and vcontained withinthe sleeve 22 to be emptied into the co'ee maker or other structure.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a simple and inexpensivemeasuring and dispensing mechanism is provided which can be locatedwithin a container until it is desired to dispense a portion of thecontents of the container at which timeV the dispensing mechanism can bepulled from the 'container by the insertion'of a thin blade beneath theflange 26 and the sleeves 17 and 22 extended to cause the rib 18 on thesleeve 17 to ride into the groove 16 on the attaching collar 14 and bymeans of the flange 26 the inner sleeve 22 rotated to open `the opening27 after the plug 2.8 has been adjusted so that the desired amount willbe dispensed, after which the sleeve 22 will be rotated by manipulatingthe-ange 26 to close the opening 27.

vItwill be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and rtherefore the invention is not limited by that which isillustrated in the drawings and` described in the specification, butonly as indicated in the accompanyingrclaims.

'What is claimed is: v

v 1.y The combination of a container for material to be dispensed andtelescopic measuring and dispensing appa- 'ratus housed entirely withinsaid container, said container having an opening with an outwardlyextending integral ring lthereabout, a resilient collar within saidring, a rst transparent sleeve slidably carried by said collar, means onthe inner end of said iirst sleeve for engaging said collar when saidsleeve is extended, a substantially semicircular closure portionpartially closing said inner end of said first sleeve, a secondtransparent sleeve rotatably mounted in said first sleeve, meanspreventing axial movement of said second sleeve, a substantiallysemi-circular closure portion partially yclosing the inn-er end of saidsecond sleeve and located in proximity to the closure portion of saidfirst sleeve, a manipulating liange on the outer end of said secondsleeve whereby said second sleeve may be rotated to dispose the closureportion thereof in opposed relation to the closure portion of said irstsleeve to prevent vthe passage of material therethrough or may berotated to produce an opening of variable size to control the ow ofmaterial, a removable cylindrical plug slidable lengthwise within saidsecond sleeve, said irstV transparent sleeve having indicia indicatingthe amount of material which can be introduced into said measuring anddispensing apparatus,

2. The combination of a container for material to be dispensed andtelescopic measuring and dispensing apparatus housed entirely Withinsaid container, said container having an opening with an outwardlyextending integral ring thereabout, a resilient collar within said ring,a first 'trans-parent sleeve slidably carried by said collar, means onthe inner end of said first sleeve for engaging said collar when saidsleeve4 is extended, a substantially semicircular closure portionpartially closing said inner end of said rst sleeve, asecond transparentsleeve rotatably mounted in said rst sleeve, means preventing laxialmovement of said second sleeve, a substantially semi-circular closureportion partially closing the inner end of said References Cited in theile'of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,265,537 Shull May 7, 19181,959,276 Paardecamp May 15, 1934 2,5 69,325 Muscal et al Sept. 25, 19512,774,523 Rieke Dec. 18, 1956

